Sled attachment



C. METZGER.

SLED ATTACHMENT. APPLICATION FILED FEB, 24. 1921.

1,410,701 A Patented Maf. 2s, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

C. METZGEH.

SLED ATTACHMENT.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 24. I92I.

l ,41 0,70 l Patented Mar. 28, 1922.

- V 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

C. METZGER.

sm ATTACHMENT.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 24, 1921. 1,410,701 Patented Mar. 28, 1922.,

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

idiiififl@ CHARLES METZGER, OF YONKERS, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR Ol LErcrrT AND 'ONE-Tinian 'ro JOHN ONE-THIRD To Louis WALTER, BOTH OF YONKERS, NEW YORK.

SLED ATTACHMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent. Tatellttl Filial'. 2), 1922,

Application led February 24, 1921. Serial No. 447,531.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, CHARLES METZGER, a citizen ofthe United States, and a resident of Yonkers, county of Westchester, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sled Attachments, of which the following is a speciiication. v j Y The object of my inventionk is to afford simplevbut eiective means whereby a sled of ordinary construction may be readily converted into a wheeled Avehicle -or coaster, so that the sled, as a basic structure, may be available and utilized at all seasons of the year. To this end the invention consists, in the combination with the sled, of the specific construction and arrangement of parts and appliances herein described and claimed, distinctive features being the method of vmounting the wheels, effecting propulsion,

steering, etc., all as hereinafter fully set forth.

In the accompanying drawings,

Fig. l, is a side elevation of a sled equipped with my attachments;

Fig. 2, is a top view thereof;

Fig. 3, is a view oftheunder side of the rear portion of the sled, showing the driving shaft., etc.; Y

Fig. 4,"is a central longitudinal section,

upon a larger scale the better to show the' construction, taken upon plane of line 1 -4t,

Fig. 2;

. Fig. 5, is a cross sect-ion of the rear or drive shaft showinga side elevation of one of the shaft bearings; Y

Ffg; 6, is a cross section of the sled runners taken behind the rear drive shaft, and

through one of thebearings therefor, on

plane of line 6-6, Fig. 5:

Fig. 7, is a view on the same 'scale as Fig. 4t, showing the under side of the forward part of the sled, steering means, etc.; f

Fig. 8, isa detail in side elevation of one of the propelling levers, broken away in aart; Y

l Fig. 9, is a view taken at right angles to Fig 8, of the parts shown therein; Y

FigrlO, is a sectional detail of the lever fulcrum and support.

Although I do not confine the application of my improvements thereto, nor to any other type of sled in particular, I have herein illustrated a practical embodiment of my invention adapted for attachment to and use upon a sled of the iiexible iiyer type, Vso called commercially, and well known in the state of the art.

. The forward ends of the runners r, r, are secured to the longitudinal members a, a, of the sled frame by studs a', a', or equivalent means. Said runners r, r, are also attached to the side members a, a, by rear trussesy 0.2, 1.2, and medial trusses as, a3, indirectly through the medium of the 'frame cross members at, a, to which latter is also attached the platform of. 0,7, is a reinforcing cleat attached to the under side of the platform a6. as, is a metallic cross bar connecting the forward ends of the longitudinal side members (t, a, of the frame. To this frontai cross bar a8, is pivotally and centrally connected by the bolt asl, the steering lever a2 connected, as usual in this type of sled, with the forward part of the platform a, by link straps am, (L91, the rear ends of which are secured to the platform a, by a pivotal bolt am, as shown more particularly in Fig. 4, of the drawings. The above description applies to the usual and well known construction ofthe aforesaid flexible flyer type ct sled to which my traction attachments are especially adapted.

My attachments appertain to the detach` able mounting of the above named sled structure on running gear consisting essentially of a frontal steering wheel s,l and two traction or drive wheels t, t, together with the means for controlling the steering wheel, and effecting the propulsion, manually, of the vehicle thus created, by the positive rotation'of the said rear wheels, substantially as hereinafteriset'forth.

The steering wheel s, is mounted between the bifurcations b, b, of a bracket b, piv- 1 otally supported at 7)?, and formed 'with a forwardly extending steering arm Z13, :is shown more particularly in Figs. i and i'. The fulcrum b2, for said bearing bracket I), is supported on a transverse bar c, detaclably secured vat its ends to the longitudinal side `members a, c, of the sled frame by any suitable mechanical expedient, as by screw clips c, c', provided with nuts c2, c2, (Fig.

7) by which means said bar o, and the steer-l ing bracket Z), may be readily positioned upon or removed from the sled frame. The forward end of the steering arm bs, is pivotally and articularly connected by means of toggle links d, d, d', ai', with the ends of llO the permanent steering lever a, of the sled structure heretofore set forth. l/Vhen thus connected up with my steering attachment the said sled lever a, is utilized as a foot lever by the person seated on the platform a. That is to say, pressure applied at either end of said sled lever a, will be transmitted through either one or the other of the sets of toggle links (Z, Z, to the steering tongue b3, of the pivoted bracket b, thereby shifting the latter in one direction or the other, and correspondingly changing the alignment of the steering Wheel s, as related to the longitudinal axis of the sled medial between the runners r, r.

The traction power wheels t, are exterior-ly mounted on the rear portions 0f the runners 7', r, by means of a crank shaft Za, journalled in bearing standards e, e, detachably secured to said runners .as shown more particularly in Figs. 5 and 6, of the drawings. by ivhich it ivill be seen that Said bearing standards c, e, are formed with basic rectangular flanges c', c', which straddle the` runners r, r, and are secured thereto by bolts c?, e2, and nuts c3, c, although I do not restrict myself to this particulauform and construction of clamping device,since it is obvious that any equivalent mechanical expedient may be substituted with like result.

The cranks 7c', Zc, of the driving shaft Z', are pivotally connected by pitman rods p, y), with the loiver ends of propulsion levers L, L, fulcrumed on a trunnion '/U, secured rigidly to a bracket loop c', rigidly pendent from the under side of abridge piece lw, which is supported at its forward end on the fulcrum bolt Z22, aforesaid, and at its rear extremity is affixed by a screw fw, or equivalent means, to the cross member at, of

the sled fra-me, as shoivn more particularly in Fig. 4.

The propulsion levers L, L, are preferably sectional in structure in that the handle sections z), 7i., are detachably coupled to the levers proper, i. e., the sections pivotally supported on the fulcrum o. In the construction shoivn in the drawings, and more particularly in Figs. S and 9 thereof, the handles ZL, 71,', are bifurcated at their lower extremities to straddle the fulcrum i', and are also formed with longitudinal slots It', 71,', for the accommodation of turn buttons Z, Z, which are pivotally connected with the upper arms of the levers L, L. Thus when the lower extremities of the handles Zi, 7L, are positioned to straddle the fulcrum c, and the" turn buttons Z, Z, passed through the elongate slots'v it', ZL', and turned out of alignment with said slots, as illustrated in Fig. 8, the handles are temporarily locked in operative positions on the propulsion levers L, L, said handles 71;, Zt, extending upivard above the platform n.6, so Vas tc be conir'eniently accessible for manipulation by a person seated on the said platform a5, as indicated particularly inVFig'. et, by reference to which figure, and` also to Fig. 1it willV also be seen that the levers L, L, themselves are positioned entirely below the platform e, so that when the handles ZL, L, are detached from the levers L, L, Vas in Fig. l. tlc sled is adapted to be steered by hand by a' person lying onl the platform a, as in 'the manner of use prior to the application of my attachments, except that the superstructure (the sled frame. etc.) noiv rests on the wheels s, t, t, instead of upon the runners r, r, as it did before the application of my attachments to the sled.

By my construction and arrangement of parts a sled can be quickly and conveniently transformed into a Wheeled coaster, Aand as readily lre-converted into sled form Without detriment to the original structure, or to the attachable and detachable parts. For instance.' the steering and propelling mechanism is held in place on the sled frame only by the nut- Z, on the pivotal bolt b2, the clips c", the screw to', and the link bolts mi, a?. which, with Vthe rear standard bolts c2, e?. Vconstitute'the whole means of attachmeut and detachment. V

The convertible vehicle thus afforded is Vobviously adaptable for use at all times' and seasons, which fact adds materially to its Vthe propelling levers adapt the converted vehicle for use by a person resting-on the platform in either recumbentor seated position, as set forth.

It is to be understood that while I have herein shown and described a practical embodiment of my invention Vas applied to a sled of the character designated,V I do not confine myself to minor details of construct-ion, since various modifications' may be resorted to, and equivalent mechanical eX- pedients used, with like result, and Without departing from the spirit and intentof my invention in this respect.

What I claim as my'invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is', A

t. In combination with Va sled of the character designated, and detachably` mounted thereon, a frontal steering Wheel mounted on a bifurcated bracket pivotally attached to the frame, said brackety pivotally connected by toggle' links with a transverse steering lever on said frame, and rear trac'- tion wheels mounted on the runners, for the purpose described.

2. In combination with a' sled of the' character designated, and detachably' `mounted thereon, a frontal steering ivlieel mounted on a bifurcated bracket pivotally attached t0 the frame, said bracket pivotallyV conneeted b v toggle links with a transverse steering lever medially fulcrumed on said frame, traction and propulsion wheels attached to a rear crank shaft mounted on and between the runners, propulsion levers mounted on a fixed fulcrum positioned on the forward part of the sled frame, and pitman rods pivotally connecting said levers with the cranks on said rear crank shaft, for the purpose described.

3. In combination with a sled of the character desig'nated, and detaehably mounted thereon, a frontal steering Wheel pivotally connected With a steering lever on the sled frame, rear traction and propulsion wheels and a crank shaft mounted on and between the runners, propulsion levers mounted on a fixed fulcrum positioned. on the forward part of the sled frame, and pitman rods pivotally connecting said levers ivith the c 'anks on said rear crank shaft, said propulsion levers being formed with detachable handles, for the purpose described.

Il. In combination with a sled of the character designated provided with a frontal steering lever, of traction mechanism de tachably mounted on said sled and comprising a frontal steering Wheel joui-nailed on a pivotallv supported bracket and articularly connected with said sled steering lever by toggle links, rear traction and propulsion Wheels and a crank shaft mount-ed on the runners, propulsion levers Vsupported on a fixed fulcrum, and pitman rods connecting said levers with the cranks on said crank shaft, for the purpose described.

5. In combination with a sled of the character designated provided With a frontal steering lever, of traction mechanism detachably mounted on said sled and comprisa frontal steering Wheel journalled on a pivotally supported bracket and articularly connected with said sled steering lever by toggle links, rear traction and propulsion Wheels and a crank shaft vmounted on the runners, propulsion levers supported on a fixed fulcrum. and pitman rods connecting said levers with the cranks on said crank shaft, said propulsion levers being formed with detachable handles, for the purpose described.

6. In combination With a sled of the character designated provided with a frontal steering lever, of traction mechanism detachably mounted on said sled and comprising a frontal steering Wheel journalled on a pivotally supported bracket and articularl1 connected With said sled steering lever by toggle links, rear traction and propulsion Wheels and a crank shaft mounted on the runners, propulsion levers supported on a fixed fulcruin, and pitman rods connecting said levers with the cranks on said crank shaft, said propulsion levers having detachable handles formed with fulcrumed inner ends which straddle the lever fulcruin and with longitudinal slots for the accommodation of turn buttons on the upper portions of said levers, together with said turn buttons, for the purpose described.

CHARLES METZGER. IVitnesses Dono'rHY MIATT, GEO. WM. MIA'r'r. 

